Philosophy Carnival #46
Here. (If you haven’t read Dennett’s piece “Higher Order Truths about Chmess,” I recommend it.)
Author: Gualtiero Piccinini
Are Causal Facts Observable?
I just read John Earman and John Roberts’ interesting papers defending Humean Supervenience about laws of nature, in PPR 2005. They argue that facts about which generalizations are nomic supervene on non-nomic observable facts. Their argument is that without such supervenience, it would be impossible to find empirical justification for …
Animals with episodic memory and foresight?
Today’s NY Times has a nice article on recent evidence that contrary to popular belief (especially among philosophers), some animals have a form of episodic memory and the ability to plan for future events.
Science and Consciousness Review
Alerted by Arnold Trehub, I just discovered Science & Consciousness Review, an interesting group blog devoted to reviewing work on the science of consciousness. Incidentally, Arnold has a quick review of Annti Revonsuo’s book, Inner Presence and one of Velmans and Schneider’s Blackwell Companion to Consciousness.
Simulation Theory and Robotics
My colleague Bob Gordon is the originator of the simulation theory, one of the two main theories of folk psychology (the other being the theory theory). Aside from being an influential theory in philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience, in recent years the simulation theory has had a large impact on social robotics.Bob …
Should I go to a Canadian or U.S. Ph.D. Program?
A student who prefers to remain anonymous has sent me the following interesting query:I have recently been offered a place in a top Canadian PhD program (one that is ranked quite highly in about 7 specialty areas). Since I have a master’s, I have been accepted directly into the PhD …
HBO’s Addiction Project Online
In a previous post, I wrote about HBO’s 14-part documentary series on addiction, which is set to premiere on March 15. What if you don’t have cable? HBO has set up a website where, immediately after the premiere, all 14 films will be made available for free. Apparently this is …